Profit Maximization Through Customer Profitability Management Using Whale Curve and Time-Driven Activity Based Costing

This study aims to formulate a profit maximization strategy for an offset printing company by integrating Customer Profitability Management (CPM) through Whale Curve Analysis and Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC). The research was conducted as a quantitative case study at one of offset printing company in Indonesia, focusing on the food packaging segment comprising 147 customers. Whale Curve Analysis was used to map customer profitability distribution, while TDABC was applied to calculate more accurate production costs by considering time-based capacity rates. The results show that 20.41% of customers contribute 58.39% of the total contribution margin, 59.86% are at break-even, and 19.73% are less profitable. The TDABC analysis revealed a production cost reduction of IDR 266,234,623 compared to the company’s traditional costing method, indicating previous overcosting and undercosting practices. The integration of Whale Curve and TDABC enabled the identification of profitable, break-even, and unprofitable customers and guided the development of differentiated strategies to retain, improve, or transform them. The study concludes that applying TDABC enhances cost accuracy and efficiency, while Whale Curve Analysis provides a clearer understanding of customer profitability—together leading to improved decision-making, competitive pricing, and overall profit maximization in the printing industry.